Jami Bernard
Gary Dretzka
Leonard Klady
David Poland
Doug Pratt
Ray Pride
Stu VanAirsdale
..Gary
Dretzka
..Leonard
Klady
..David
Poland
..Ray
Pride
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Director Gus Van Sant has gone on record that the title of his Columbine-inspired drama Elephant derives from the Buddhist parable about three blind men who cannot describe a pachyderm after touching it. It also might equally apply to the Borscht Belt parable that goes something like if it feels like, looks like, smells like, it's probably …
However, to grapple with seemingly senseless violence, the filmmaker has adopted an unconventional, even audacious narrative. Realizing that the demands of the faux documentary style include perspective and invariably lead to conclusions, he's opted for an impressionistic rendering of events. The details are all laid out, but as Goddard once observed, a story needs a beginning, middle and end, though not necessarily in that order.
From the opening sequence, it's clear that Van Sant is taking the road less traveled. From a high angle, he tracks a car proceeding along a boulevard, casually scraping parked vehicles and continuing along the road in erratic fashion. When it stops, John (John Robinson), a high school student, tells his father (Timothy Bottoms) that he'll take over the driving and that he'll have someone collect him once they get to his school.
Van Sant eschews editorial but deftly presents a tidy neighborhood nonetheless touched by unemployment, drug abuse and the absence of parental supervision. For the next hour his camera roams through the corridors and classrooms of a suburban school and provides snap shots of a dozen kids. The characters and situations are unremarkable and could easily be taking place in any reasonably sized city in America.
While the story never lingers on any particular character, it's clear that the director has a genuine affection for all his kids. He's protective without coddling and sensitive to their limited perspectives. Conscious or otherwise, he repeats seemingly banal incidents from different angles, perhaps to find some hidden clue or simply to underline that there was no defining moment that presaged the horror. One can note slurs or attempt to link some activity as the spur for a violent action, but neither provides the sort of ammunition necessary to connect cause to effect.
Curiously, even without pat answers, Elephant does not come across as the portrait of a hopeless situation. There's a quiet, authoritative quality to the way Van Sant presents the situation that forces the viewer to look inward and ponder his compliance. To dismiss the bigger picture is to miss the point and to miss the point nurtures the very breeding ground that feeds terrible, inexplicable things like Columbine.
A New Line Cinema release of a Meno Films production. Produced by Dany Wolf. Director/screenplay, Gus Van Sant. Camera, Harris Savides. Editor, Van Sant. Art director, Benjamin Hayden.
Alex Frost (Alex), Eric Duelen (Eric), John Robinson (John McFarland), Carrie Finklea (Carrie), Nathan Tyson (Nathan), Timothy Bottoms (Mr. McFarland), Matt Malloy (Mr. Luce).
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Elephant |
Release
Date: October 24, 2003
Rated: R
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Starring: Elias McConnell,
Alex Frost, John Robinson,
Eric Deulen, Jordan Taylor
Produced by: Dany Wolf,
Bill Robinson
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Distributor:
Fine Line Features
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Review Date: October 23, 2003
